The Fiend War (Darkus Eclipse side-story 1)
by LordDeadwing
Summary: Tensions rise between the Original Digidestined and the Battle Brawlers in the wake of the hotel attack. Meanwhile, the Cult's Fiend Guard make their move against their enemies so they can secure the Infinity Core. Against an enemy that neither group can prevail over alone, will the heroic factions be able to set aside their differences against the enemy or is the world doomed?
1. Prologue: Day of the Fiends

**This marks the beginning of the first Darkus Eclipse side story, I hope you enjoy, please leave any questions or comments in the reviews.**

**Prologue; The Day of the Fiends**

_2 hours before the Bakugan arrived on Earth_

Marduk readied his sidearm with a look of determination, the Cult Leader Malacree had determined him too young to utilize a fully automatic weapon, but that hadn't stopped him from arming the teen and sending him on a high priority mission along with several other cultist teens. The team was currently riding through Moscow inside of a black van heading towards a private estate just north of the city. Marduk finished his preparations and looked around to his team to see that they were nearly ready for the drop off as well, he wore a long black trench coat with fingerless gloves along with black leather pants and combat boots, his hair was red with white highlights and he wore a mask that covered half of his face while the other half was concealed by his hairstyle.

The girl next to him was named Valkyria, she was the youngest of the group at age thirteen and wore jeans along with a white floral top and was covered in a fur coat. She had green hair fashioned into a ponytail matching her emerald eyes. The only obvious sign that the girl was a part of the Cult of Crimson Lightning was the armband that she and all the other cultists wore bearing the symbol of Myotismon. She was also the only member of the team that Marduk truly feared because he knew why she was often referred to as the deceiver.

Next to Valkyria was another girl dressed in an insulated morphsuit along with a pair of sweatpants and a light jacket. Her blonde hair was secured into a bun and her gaze held a no nonsense attitude behind some glasses that were framed red. She hadn't been given a weapon because she didn't need a weapon with her capabilities. The cult exclusively referred to her as hierarch because of her inheritance. Her name was Flare.

Across from the three of them were a set of triplets, two of which being boys who wore the same outfit of a black t-shirt with Myotismon's symbol fashioned onto it in red, they wore an open short sleeve woven shirt over their t-shirts and had camouflage pants worn as well. The only way to tell the two identical brothers apart was the colors of their clothes with the first one, Dominus, wearing an orange and brown color scheme while the second one, Slaine was wearing a lime green and dark green color scheme.

And lastly, the third triplett, a girl named Sapphire wore a blue summer dress and a pair of light blue tennis shoes. She had auburn colored hair along with lilac eyes. She was the most immature of their group and often people wondered if she was just dumb but her teammates knew better. She may be a bit goofy, but when someone was stupid enough to anger her, they had a nasty habit of winding up in the ER.

Together the group of six cult combatants, young elites known as The Fiend Guard, continued their silent ride to their objective. The Russian branch of the Cult of Crimson Lightning had received intelligence that a Russian scientist by the name of Dr. Michael Gehabich was nearing the completion of his life's work, a fully functional dimension transporter. With this kind of technology, the Cult would be able to enter the Digital World and find those Digimon who shared their point of view. The mission was simple, breach the lab, force the aging scientist to hand over schematics, and leave. Little did they know, that today would change everything.

The group arrived at the gate of the estate and scaled the wall. They snuck further onto the grounds all the while keeping a sharp eye out for any potential witnesses, this mission required discretion of the highest kind or it could spell disaster for the Cult's plans. They passed by a wooden house and spotted a ginger haired teen wearing a green and yellow dress as she pulled some freshly baked cookies out of an oven inside the kitchen while humming Amazing Grace. The group of cultists couldn't risk her spotting them but they were also ordered not to kill unless absolutely necessary. With this in mind, Flare quietly chanted under her breath and before her target knew it she fell asleep.

Without another word, the cultists continued their sweep of the grounds and eventually found the lab. After checking the outside and making sure that nobody was watching, the Fiend Guard breached the lab and surrounded the scientist.

"Who are you people?!" Dr. Michael demanded in a mixture of shock and anger

"Who we are doesn't matter old man" their leader began "what we want is the schematics to your dimension transporter, hand them over and nobody gets hurt"

"You're obviously criminals" Dr Michael sighed "I won't allow you any access to my creation"

"Fine" the leader replied with a smirk before turning to Dominus "go back to that house and kill the girl."

"No!" Dr. Michael panicked "Please, don't hurt my granddaughter, Alice has never done anything to hurt anyone!"

"It's the schematics or Alice" the leader stated while motioning for Dominus to wait

"Ok, I'll give you what you want" Dr. Michael submitted in a tone of sadness while he developed a desperate plan

"A wise choice" Sapphire praised

"We're waiting" the leader said making it obvious that their patience was borderline nonexistent. Dr. Michael held his hands up as he went towards the control computer for the device and began downloading a copy of the schematics onto a flash drive while simultaneously typing in a command for the transporter to activate at full power, his transporter would be severely damaged, but it wasn't anything a little work couldn't fix. Anything was worth keeping these sadists from attaining such power, anything except family that is. After a few minutes, the copy was finished downloading and he carefully took the flash drive out of the computer before walking it over to the group's leader.

"Here you go" Dr. Michael sighed "Please, just leave me and Alice alone" before he could receive a reply, Flare chanted under her breath and knocked Dr. Michael out while simultaneously erasing the memory of their encounter from his mind.

"Good work team" the leader congratulated "Now le-"

"Boss!" Sapphire cried out in alarm as the transporter activated. Dr. Michael was pulled through almost immediately as Flare began chanting to keep herself and the rest of the Fiend Guard from flying through the unstable portal. After about a minute of weathering the scientific storm that raged around them, there was a sound of glass shattering coming from the transporter and suddenly Flare yelled out in pain before passing out due to a pulse she felt in her head, causing her incantation to fail and pulling her group through the portal.


	2. Some Assembly Required

**Chapter 1: Some Assembly Required**

_Present Day_

A week has passed since the attack on the hotel and things were a mess. Marduk was declared as a public enemy and law enforcement agencies were acting in unison with Digidestined all over the world to look for him. Now the entire world knew about the Bakugan and everyone was busy theorizing about a subject they had only just been introduced to causing problems for random brawlers who just wanted to enjoy the game. On top of everything else, Tai had no choice but to disclose Kai's entire portfolio of Bakugan facts to the rest of the Original Digidestined. At first, several of them were trying to formulate a plan to get rid of Leonidas because of that damned prophecy but luckily, Tai had shut them down by threatening to have them removed from the team and stripped of their diplomatic immunity if they did any such thing.

Tai had decided shortly after that argument that everyone needed to cool their heads (not to mention Kai needed medical attention for his nose and jaw) so he gave them all a week to cool down and gather at Marucho's house in Wardington to go over intelligence that one of Tai's spies had been able to get to them regarding the Cult and their Bakugan. Kai's injuries hadn't been too serious so he was released a day after the hotel attack and hitched a ride on one of Marucho's private jets back to Wardington along with Shun before he was cornered by TK and Kari, not that he was afraid of anything, he just needed time to think and he certainly wouldn't get any if he had stayed long enough for them to question him.

The meeting was scheduled for later in the afternoon, so Kai decided to take advantage of the few hours they had called for a brawler meeting at his house so he could tell the rest of his team about everything he had been keeping from them. He was nervous and had second guessed himself for several hours before coming to the conclusion that they would hear of it soon enough anyway and he would prefer to be the one to disclose the full story rather than the heavily edited version that his former parents and friends had no doubt concocted.

Most of the team was situated in Kai's dining room while they were waiting for Julie to arrive. Just a couple of days ago, Kai and Tai had paid a visit to Julie's home in the desert and explained the situation to her family. Unsurprisingly, they didn't want anything to do with it, but once Kai had pointed out that nobody would be safe if the Cult got there way along with the fact that Julie was already deeply involved with the group's objectives, they reluctantly agreed to allow her to go and help. The Subterra battler's plane had landed just half an hour ago and she would arrive any minute. Kai busied himself by setting up a big breakfast for himself and the other brawlers complete with eggs, toast, waffles, bacon, hash browns, etc. Just as everything was in place, Kai heard a knock at the door and went to answer it. He was surprised to find that not only Julie was there, but Hikaru and Renamon as well.

"Hikaru" Kai said with a smile, "this is certainly a pleasant surprise"

"Yeah well, Renamon and I decided we wanted to see you properly, out of the old man disguise and blood free." Hikaru began with a smirk "So we decided to pretend that we were paying a quick visit to my pen pal before the meeting. I don't know if you've heard of her, but with a name like Mylene Pharaoh, I'd be surprised if you didn't know her." Kai began laughing at that, it looked like the fake pen pal trick worked to get passed the scrutiny of TK and Kari.

"Am I missing something?" Julie asked with a confused look as Kai stopped laughing

"Nothing I wasn't already planning to explain, Julie" Kai replied before letting both of them into his house. Hikaru was pleased to see that he had been living out of an immaculately kept two-story condo.

"Do I smell hash browns?" Julie asked as she ran towards the direction the smell was coming from

"So, this is where you live?" Hikaru asked

"Yeah" Kai sighed "Leonidas is a great partner, but it gets lonely being the only guy living here" Before Hikaru could reply, there was a small cheer coming from the dining room as Julie was getting settled in with the rest of the brawlers

"Well, you definitely won't be lonely today" Renamon commented at the sound

"I'm still trying to figure out if that's a good or a bad thing, especially considering that I'm gonna have to be the one speaking the most during the meeting" Kai replied

"Why?" Hikaru asked

"Uncle Tai said that since I'm not only the leader of the brawlers but was also a Digidestined, it only made since for me to be the one to explain the situation. Tai is amazing but I have to be honest, I'm not thrilled about this call of his." Kai could imagine the meeting now, best case scenario was that they would blow him off while the worst case was that tensions would continue to rise at the worst possible time.

"I'll be there, Renamon will be there, Uncle Tai will be there, your new partner will be there, and your team will be there" Hikaru said as she placed a hand on his shoulder "It'll be okay"

"For everyone's sake, I hope your right" Kai said as Runo walked out of the dining room.

"Kai, what's going on?" Runo asked as she saw Hikaru and Renamon "Is this your sister?"

"Yes Runo" Kai said "We'll be there i-"

"Actually Kai" Hikaru interrupted "Mom and Dad are expecting me back in a few minutes, Renamon and I have to go"

"Oh" Kai said sadly "well, see you at the meeting?"

"Yeah" Hikaru answered in the same sorrowful tone before giving Kai a hug and walking out with Renamon. Kai just stood there for a minute, not sure how he was feeling.

"Kai?" Runo asked softly as she walked to his side "are you alright?"

"No" Kai replied "I won't be alright until this mess is cleaned up, people stop hating on brawlers and their Bakugan because of that Masquerade knock-off, and I can actually have my sister back in my life" Kai shivered for a moment before Runo took his hand.

"You have every right to be angry Kai, but you deserve to be happy. If there's anything I can do, please just ask." Runo said causing Kai to smile

"Thanks, it is hard, but at least I can be grateful for the fact that I did get to talk to her" Kai replied

"Are you sure you want to go through with this?"

"I have to Runo" Kai stated "they have a right to know, I just hope they'll still want to be my friends afterwards."

"They will" Runo consoled him "They might be upset that you kept it from them, but they still admire and respect you, nothing is going to change about that." with that, the two brawlers made their way into the dining room and sat at the table to begin the meeting.

Kai made a mental note to never doubt Runo again, she was right about them being understanding about everything. Like with Leonidas, they all had gladly accepted him for who he was. They also decided on a new policy for the entire team, if one of them was threatened or attacked in any way, they all would respond with appropriate force. Kai hoped that they would never need to use the policy, but knew that hopefully never could easily turn into later today. The brawlers were currently walking down to Marucho's house as the meeting was going to start soon. None of them were particularly surprised to find that there were security guards all over the property along with multiple news crews. They entered Marucho's house while avoiding the questions thrown their way and moved through the foyer until one security guard stopped them.

"Mr. Eclipse will need to remain here for the duration of the meeting" the guard spoke sternly

"I don't know who you think you are, but Kai Eclipse is our teammate and leader. And let's not forget the fact that this is my house and I have the right to decide who comes and goes" Marucho informed the guard with a venomous glare

"Marucho" Kai said calmly "why don't you and the others go on in"

"Kai-" Runo began before being cut off by a raised hand from Kai

"I am certain there has only been a misunderstanding" Kai assured them "I will be along shortly," the guard snorted at this response but allowed the other brawlers to pass "I don't know who put you up to this, but I do know that there is nothing to stop me from attending this meeting even if I have to force my way in."

"Don't think you can threa-" the guard was cut off as Kai continued

"Did you know that Bakugan don't need a battlefield to attain their true forms?" Kai asked confusing the guard

"What?" the guard asked

"It's true, I tested it out while visiting a friend a few days ago. This is an impressive house, but I doubt that it can handle the full size of a Bakugan." Kai mused

"You're bluffing" the guard accused

"Am I?" Kai asked "Those news crews outside are eager for a story. Tell me, between a disowned child who is doing his best to save the world and a guard who was foolish enough to think he could get away with accepting bribes, which party would the media support more?" the guard was stunned into silence "Well friend, you've obviously made your choice, I suppose I'll have to go an-"

"That won't be necessary Mr. Eclipse" the guard hurriedly got out of the brawler's way "I just didn't see your name on the list, go on in!"

"Why, thank you" Kai smiled as he strolled further into the 'house' with Leonidas on his shoulder.

"You handled that well" Leonidas praised his partner "better than I would've"

"Yeah, well I don't know, an Alpha Blaster would work wonders in getting idiots to shut up" Kai jokes

"We can save it for when we're selling real estate" Leonidas quipped back, the partners shared a soft laugh as they entered the meeting room.

"What do you mean we can get started?" Tai sighed in exasperation at Davis' claim

"Well, everyone that's coming is here" Davis said

"No were not" Runo growled at the man ready to throw punches, the rest of the brawlers were just as upset along with Hikaru, Renamon, Tai, and now Riku. The Ishida teen wasn't going to pretend that he suddenly liked Kai, but he was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt along with some respect after what happened at the hotel. The Original Digidestined and Brawlers were all inside of a large conference room and it didn't take a genius to feel the tension in the air ready to snap. Kai walked into the room a few moments later and approached his uncle.

"Sorry I'm late Uncle Tai" Kai spoke "there was a simple case of confusion regarding my admittance, if I didn't know better, I would suspect bribery. But no, I have to be wrong there's no way the 'Greatest Digidestined' in the world would stoop so low"

"Well, I'm glad it all got cleared up" Tai replied feeling nervous at all the angry glares being sent towards Kai. "Anywho, let's get down to business" Tai said causing everyone to grab a seat in the conference room. "Because of his experience with the Bakugan and his ability, Kai Eclipse will be leading this briefing" Tai announced signaling for Kai to make his way to the front of the room

"Tai?" Yolie began "are you sure it's a good idea to have a" seeing the look half of the room was sending her Yolie changed her wording "child lead this meeting?"

"When did we not have meetings like this one at his age with no adult leading it?" Tai demanded immediately disarming the poorly executed attempt to keep Kai from speaking.

"That was before" Ken spoke up "Were grown up now and were wiser than Kai is"

"Kai is living on his own, has organized a team with no help of any kind, is one of the top Bakugan Brawlers on the planet and has been studying the species since they first arrived. I'd say all of that makes him plenty qualified, Detective" Tai hissed while narrowing his eyes "Now does anyone have any legitimate worries or are we going to keep wasting time?"

"Fine" TK stood up "We can't trust the disgrace, we were far too lenient when he refused to surrender Impmon to us and now he has a creature that for all we know could cause mass destruction."

"How is any of that different from us and our partners? Or maybe you're saying that if the Dark Masters, Devimon, Myotismon, and Etemon were to gang up on you and demand you surrender Patamon that you would do it" Tai shot back

"This is different" TK seethed

"I see no difference" Tai replied "I asked for a legitimate worry, not paranoia caused by a wall carving. Try again"

"Stop" Kai spoke up "Look TK, let's be honest with each other. I don't like you and you don't like me. But whether you like it or not, this isn't about us, this is about keeping the Cult from destroying everything that we hold dear and I for one am willing to deal with whatever crap I have to so we can stop them. That being said, this alliance won't work if we do-"

"Save it!" TK yelled "If you think some fancy words are gonna convince me then you are a fool"

"Shut it!" Runo yelled "I read about you and the other Original Digidestined a few years ago. I thought you were all heroes, that you had honor. Well right now, Tai and Hikaru are the only Digidestined in your group that have honor. I am ashamed to think I ever looked up to you Takeru Takaishi. A man who went along with the murder of his son's partner without a second thought, a man who keeps that same son from his sister because he dared to say no to you, forget surrendering to Devimon, you are Devimon"

"Why you little bi-" Matt began as Kai pulled out a gate card and held Leonidas ready to throw

"Finish that sentence Matt, I dare you" Kai hissed

"Well this is going great" Shun sighed walking towards the exit of the room "let me know when we actually get to work, or if we need to enact team policy" Shun told Kai, as he was about to leave Riku stood up

"This is getting us nowhere!" Riku began "I agree with Tai, Kai should lead this meeting so we can actually get something done."

"Riku" Matt gasped

"I expected this from Hikaru" TK said "But you?"

"I don't like him, but what about the good he has done, the good he is trying to do, does that really mean so little to you? Give him a chance, we have a better chance together than we will alone" Riku stated

"Fine" TK grumbled sitting down, Shun walked back to his seat as well leaving Tai and Kai as the only ones standing.

"Make that Tai, Hikaru, and Riku" Runo said under her breath

"Ok" Tai clapped his hands "We got off to a rocky start, but let's get things into motion. Kai, if you will."

"Thank you" Kai said as Tai sat down "Intelligence has reported that Marduk and a team of five other humans within the Cult of Crimson Lightning have Bakugan and are skilled with using them." Kai used a remote to dim the lights and began presenting a slideshow with information on each of the enemy brawlers.

The first slide featured a picture of Valkyria along with a unique Haos Bakugan.

"Valkyria Dreyar is their Haos Brawler, her partner is called Chromia, she is an expert at leading her opponents on before moving in for the kill." Kai pulled up the next slide with a picture of Flare on it with a Pyrus Bakugan. "Flare Nochris is a Pyrus battler that is ruthless and cunning, among the cultist brawlers, she is the one we know the least about so assume the worst if you come across her. Her partner is called Torchwick" the slide changed to a picture of Dominus, Slaine, and Sapphire. "Dominus, Slaine, and Sapphire Bates are triplets who brawl using Subterra, Ventus, and Aquos respectively. Dominus is cold and quiet, he rarely speaks and when he does it's almost always a threat of some kind, his partner is named Xol. Slaine is a people person, he loves cracking jokes messing with his opponents and crushing them as he does so, he and Dominus don't get along very well, but they work well enough together that they are nearly unbeatable as a tag team, it will take an extreme amount of trust for us to overcome them. Slaine's partner is called Icarus. Sapphire is, unsettling, to the point that her own siblings won't work alongside her unless it's absolutely necessary. She acts immature and goofy up front but when she gets upset she could easily be described as the cruelest and most merciless person to ever live. Her partner is named Levianoid." the slide changed to show Marduk and Vladitor "And finally we have the headliner, Marduk Lecal is the son of Malacree Lecal who stands as the leader of the Cult of Crimson Lightning, his personality and style remain unknown to us, and we all know who his partner is." Kai pressed the button one more time and a picture of all six of them appeared on the screen "Together they form a group separated from the Cult's main chain of command known as The Fiend Guard." The slideshow ended and Kai turned the lights back on "Unfortunately, this is all the info we have and without knowing where they are, were stuck playing defense."

"Why don't we just go and begin attacking Cult strongholds?" Davis asked Tai

"Ask Kai, he's in charge of this meeting" Tai replied coldly

"To answer your question, if we did that we would leave the homefront both here and in Japan defenseless and seeing as to how the Cult is wanting us out of the way so they can take the Infinity Core their main targets will be Wardington and Odaiba." Kai said

"He's right" Marucho observed "If I mi-" Marucho was interrupted as Kato ran into the room

"Master Marucho!" Kato yelled "It's the Cult, they've made their first strike."


	3. First Strike

**Chapter 2: First Strike**

As the 'alliance' was meeting in Wardington, the fiend guard was on the move. Valkyria sat in the back of an SUV as a group of cult assailants was making their way to a target that they could have only fantasized about taking before the Bakugan came into the world. Japan was the nation with the highest amount of Digidestined so it only made sense for their world headquarters to be located in the middle of Tokyo. This would be the first official attack of the war, one that Valkyria was determined to complete.

"Ma'am" the drivaer called out "were nearing the first security checkpoint."

"Excellent" Valkyria replied in a soft voice, "Make sure to present proper credentials to get us inside"

"Understood" the driver acknowledged pulling up a folder to hand to the guard

"Val" Chromia complained "why can't we just destroy everything?"

"Calm down" she ordered the Haos Bakugan with a glare "Keep in mind this is the Digidestined headquarters if we attack right away they'll rally and overwhelm us, our best option is to infiltrate the facility and then attack, that way we catch them off guard, and by the time they figure it out, our hacker will have the information we need from their mainframe, and we'll be long gone." The security guards approved the credentials and allowed the team inside. "Datamon, be ready to start hacking once we enter the parking garage while Chromia and I strike at them from above"

"Yes of course" the small digimon said "The dark lord will have the Infinity Core, and we will control everything"

About ten minutes later, the security chief was inside of the monitor room reading the latest _Fairy Tail_ manga when he heard the facial recognition alarm go off. Startled, the portly man practically fell out of his swivel chair as his reflexes caused him to launch the book away and jump from his seat.

"Man, I am out of shape" the security chief sighed as he sipped his coffee and turned his attention to the monitor only to give a spit take as he saw just who set the alarm off. "Damn it all!" he yelled rushing to send the alert through the intercom.

"Alert! Security Breach! Threat Level-" the recorded message blared as sirens began whirring causing Valkyria to laugh

"Too little, too late" she taunted as she held up a card with the symbol of Myotismon on it "Altar Card, set!" she yelled dropping the card in the same manner that Masquerade would drop a Doom Card, instead of a purple pulse spreading, a massive glowing red circle of intricate rune, like pattern blanketed the ground as the once bright sky became as black as a shadow leaving no natural light on the field. readied her Bakugan "Bakugan brawl!" Valkyria threw Chromia down and grinned as the spherical entity became a massive giant made out of diamond colored yellow with pink trim. "Chromia stand and attack!"

"Gladly!" Chromia replied

"Ability card activate!" Valkyria yelled "Quartz bombardment!"

"I wonder if a Digimon can survive a Bakugan" Chromia chuckled with glee as he extended his arms to the sky forming dozens of massive Quartz stones before sending them flying into the main building. The attack came so quickly that nearly 35 Digimon were instantly deleted, instead of dissolving into data, they faded into shadow and were absorbed into the circle.

"What's going on?!" One of the Digidestined panicked as his partner died and his Digivice became blackened and crumbled to dust in his hand

"The Altar Card" Valkyria laughed at the horror appearing on the young man's face "This weapon was created by the Dark Lord Myotismon himself, every Human, Digimon, and Bakugan we destroy on any battlefield affected by the Altar Card will immediately be tributed to Myotismon, he'll gain power with every death on your side. Now, our Cult has the necessary resources to lay waste to the enemies of the dark lord. Hail Myotismon!" Valkyria yelled as Chromia pressed his attack

By the time the news of the attack reached Wardington, there was nothing anyone could do to help the Digidestined and Digimon at headquarters. The Original teams of Digidestined and the Brawlers could only watch in horror as the standing personnel were destroyed. They fought as hard as they could, but the furthest most their partner Digimon could go to was Champion level which proved to be nothing more than a joke compared to the malicious Bakugan. The Ultimates among them lasted longer, but having been caught off-guard, they couldn't do much, especially since the Bakugan had seemed to absorb their energy based attacks and sent them back at the Digimon.

"Oh Hell" Kai could only gasp as he saw the entire thing unfold

"All those Digidestined" Tai growled

"Their partners too" Hikaru somberly stated a tears began to roll down her cheek.

"We have to get there now!" Davis demanded

"It's too late" Marucho stated with sadness "Even with Imperialdramon, those two will be long gone by the time we arrive"

"Well what are we supposed to do?" Yolei asked softly

"This doesn't make sense" Shun stated with his eyes closed

"There is plenty wrong with what just happened" Kari sighed

"No" Kai gasped "Shun's right, if they were planning something like that, why would they send only one of the Fiend Guard to the Digidestined Headquarters?"

"They must've had a primary objective" Riku mused

"And what does that have to do with what we do now?" TK asked while rolling his eyes

"Everything" Hikaru said "I think I know what they were afte-"

"Hikaru!" TK hissed "not in front of the disgrace"

"What can't you discuss in front of my nephew?" Tai demanded while glaring at TK

"No-"

"It is my concern!" Tai roared causing TK to flinch as he was interrupted "If you're withholding valuable intelligence we all need to know it, Digidestined and Brawler alike, were supposed to be allies for crying out loud!"

"Tai-" Kari tried only to gasp as Tai turned his glare to her

"Don't even start sister, I don't give a damn how either of you feel about Kai and his team, at the end of the day, they are valuable allies and we need to keep them informed so we all have a chance. In case you didn't notice, Ultimates weren't anything more than a minor irritant for Chromia, we have exactly three mega-levels on our side, and assuming that the other find Guard Bakugan are this powerful we are outnumbered and possibly outmatched 2-1 and we won't be able to retreat with that damn Altar Card of theirs. If you care about our world, if you're in this to win it, than leave your dislike for my nephew at the door and help us win this war, before another tragedy like this happens!" Neither Kari nor TK could reply to that at all, Tai took a deep breath and gave Hikaru a nod of encouragement.

"As I was saying" she began "Around the same time as the Bakugan first appeared, mother and I both felt something harmonize with our crests for a moment, we both saw a radiant orb of pure light containing a myriad of colors flying towards Earth, inside the sphere was some kind of white dragon that appeared to be feminine."

"Wayvern" Tigrerra gasped in awe

"We overheard the dragon, it kept saying, 'this power must be protected' as it spiralled away. We felt a pulse somewhere around this region of the United States, Mom and Dad have been working in secret to pinpoint the location of this energy so they can turn it over to the Sovereign."

"Absolutely not" Kai said "The Infinity Core belongs to Vestroia, not the Sovereign"

"Yeah, like you would actually return it disgrace" TK shot back

"Before we bicker and argue about where the Infinity Core is going we need to find it first." Tai snapped

"We pinpointed it to-" Hikaru was cut off

"If you finish that sentence, I'll disown you"TK snapped at the girl

"If you disown her, or continue withholding information, I'll have your status as an official digidestined removed as well as see you charged with Treason." Tai shot back at his brother in law quickly shutting the man up.

"You wouldn't da-" Matt began

"Yes, he would" Riku stated ignoring the glare his father sent at him as he spoke up "This intelligence is vital to our success, Uncle TK and Aunt Kari are only causing more harm than good with their threats and secrets"

"Go on sister" Kai said "I'll stand by you no matter what" Hikaru smiled at that before speaking up once more

"We pinpointed it's location to a hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah, mom and dad were actually planning on moving to retrieve the Core just as this war began last week."

"Simple enough" Shun said "We grab the core, bring it here until we figure out how to return it to Vestroia, we ensure the Fiend Guard don't get their hands on it." TK looked ready to say something but a glare from Tai and Agumon ensured he kept his opinions to himself.

"Marucho" Kai began "how long until you can get a jet ready to get us to Salt Lake?"

"A little less than an hour" Marucho replied

"How about this, we ensure that the Infinity Core is brought here to our most defensible area to be kept until further notice and we plan to move against the Fiend Guard from that point." Tai suggested

"I can live with that" Kai said while TK grumpily nodded

"Alright then, our retrieval team should have an equal number of Brawlers and Digidestined to ensure neither one of our groups can strongarm the other into altering the delivery point of the Core."

"We'll send Marucho, Shun, and Julie" Kai agreed

"Okay, and the Digidestined will send Hikaru, Riku and Yolie" Tai announced

"I want to go" TK said

"That ship sailed when you chose to sabotage our operations over a damned wall carving" Tai spat as Marucho went to find Kato so they could prepare for the mission.

_**And this story is back! Sorry about the long absence I had to finish up my college courses. It's over and done with and now I can focus more time on writing. As an apology to you, I am going to give you a chance to contribute both to this side story, and to Darkus Eclipse itself. I normally read fanfics on my phone so I didn't notice until recently that there could actually be a cover image posted for stories, and I think that would be cool to add. That being said, I can't draw to save my life so if any of you have any cover art you'd like to submit for this fanfic series PM me so we can figure that out. Thank you for your patience and I hope you continue reading this story.**_

**Next time; Chapter 3: Wayvern and the Webmaster**


	4. Wayvern and the Webmaster

**Chapter 3: Wayvern and the Webmaster**

Tense silence was all that could be heard aboard the Private Jet as it carried the allied retrieval group to Salt Lake. The Brawlers in the group were more than willing to have Hikaru and Renamon along. They were also willing to tolerate Riku and his Elecmon since they were at least willing to give Kai a chance after the Hotel attack in Kyoto. Yolie and Hawkmon on the other hand-

"I'll admit that TK and Kari could've been more tactful and I'll agree on the point that the Infinity Core should be returned to Vestroia, but why should any of us trust Kai with anything?" Yolie asked

"Says the woman willing to fall in love with the former Digimon Emperor" Shun shot back

"For real" Julie scoffed "It's funny how you can fall in love with an enemy that tried to murder you and your partners but not trust Kai because of a prophecy that may not even be accurate."

"Of course you wouldn't get it" Yolie hissed "Ken was redeemable, Kai is an enemy to all just like Impmon was"

"Then why does he have the patience to work with you to avoid the end of the world in spite of the fact that you and the majority of your team are nothing but a scourge to him?" Shun challenged

"Face it, there is not one shred of physical evidence supporting your judgment" Marucho added with a glare. As all of this was happening, Riku, Hikaru and their partners were seated on the other side of the room and had a conversation between themselves.

"You see what I mean?" Hikaru asked

"Yep, things aren't looking good" Riku acknowledged with a sigh

"Hopefully, Wayvern can help us get along at least until the crisis has passed" Elecmon said

"She'll certainly try" Renamon commented "but I have a feeling that we won't be so lucky". All conversations were brought to a halt as Kato's voice resonated over the intercom.

"_We will be landing shortly in Salt Lake City, please prepare for departure and good luck"_ Kato said as the plane began to descend.

Half an hour and a 20 minute limo ride later, the group walked into the hospital ready to search for the Infinity Core. After the simple task of confirming their identities with the staff, the group was given leave to conduct their search. Hikaru took a minute to focus her connection to the Crest of Light before getting a faint trail of the Infinity Core's energy.

"This way" Hikaru pointed as she led the group up two flights of stairs (the elevators were out of order) and down a hallway. They were coming up on Room 312 of Hallway B when the door opened and a nurse stepped out. "This is the place" Hikaru said

"May I help you?" the nurse asked noticing the fact that they weren't ordinary visitors immediately.

"We need to see whats inside this room" Yolie said in a commanding tone causing the Brawlers to bristle with annoyance.

"I'm sorry" the nurse said "This is an occupied room of a-"

"Let them in" a woman from inside the room said

"Are you sure, ma'am?" the nurse asked

"Yes, Joe and his friend figured that people would come sooner or later. Best to hear them out"

"Okay then" the nurse stepped out of the way allowing the group to enter the room. They found a woman in her mid-thirties sporting brunette hair and a semi-formal dress as though she had just arrived from work and a boy about thirteen years old in a hospital bed wearing white pajamas with a head full of sandy blonde hair.

"Oh, a few battle brawlers how interesting." the boy chuckled

"Where is the core?" Yolie demanded in a harsh tone

"Huh" the boy began "aggressive, self-righteous, over dramatic, you must be one of the Original Digidestined, no wonder Kai can't stand most of you."

"Excuse me?!" Yolie seethed

"Oh shut up" Shun sighed

"You know my brother?" Hikaru asked

"In a sense, we've never met face to face, but he did help me put the Bakugan website together."

"Wait" Marucho gasped "that means your-"

"Yep" the boy smiled "my name is Joe, and I am the webmaster of the Bakugan online community."

Meanwhile in a nearby hotel, the Bates trio were planning an operation to gain the Infinity Core, they knew they couldn't attack the hospital because it would be too obvious, especially with high profile brawlers and digidestined inside of it, which meant that they would just have to do the next best thing.

Back in the hospital, Wayvern had revealed herself and was negotiating with the 'allies'.

"I will not go anywhere without Joe." Wayvern stated

"Well we need to do something otherwise the Fiend Guard will strike and you both will be virtually defenseless." Shun pointed out while placing a hand over Yolie's mouth to keep her from yelling again.

"Marucho" Julie thought aloud "since your house has literally everything else, do you happen to have a medical wing we can transfer Joe to?"

"That could work" Marucho smiled "we transfer Joe, play defense, and wait for the Fiend Guard to get desperate and come to us on home territory."

"Home advantage didn't help the people at HQ" Riku reminded them solemnly

"HQ was neither prepared for an infiltration nor staffed with both high-level Brawlers and Digidestined with enough knowledge of the enemy to weather an assault" Shun replied

"And we are" Hikaru realized

"Yup" Marucho nodded

"I say we take Wayvern and go, all this kid will do is get in the way" Yolie huffed

"Betraying Joe just like Kai?" Julie mused "With friends like you, who needs enemies?"

"I'm being realistic" Yolie shot back "it's obvious Wayvern can't protect the core on her own and I doubt that this sick kid will hold his own."

"You know both he and I are in the room, right bitch?" Joe's mom narrowed her eyes at the adult digidestined.

"Uh" Yolie groaned "fine, let's put it to a vote"

"We just did" Riku deadpanned "You are literally the only one who isn't okay with this, so you've been outvoted."

"Of course, we'll need your permission ma'am" Shun addressed the woman

"If it keeps Joe safe, it's worth it. You have my support" she nodded

"Okay" Julie nodded "Hikaru and I can use the secure phone that Ambassador Kamiya gave us to call Marucho's house so they can get the medical wing ready."

"I'll go and let the doctor in charge of Joe know what's happening" Joe's mom volunteered as she exited the room leaving the others to stay with Joe and Wayvern while preparations began.

About half an hour later, preparations had been completed and Joe was wheeled out to the private jet which had been given permission to land on the roof of the hospital. As soon as everyone had boarded, the jet took off and was on its way back to Wardington.

"Well, this went about as well as it could've gone." Shun sighed while glancing at Yolie who was angrily staring outside of the window.

"She needs to cool off" Julie grumbled thinking about how cold the older Digidestined had been when they first met with Wayvern and Joe.

"The problem isn't just with her" Hikaru sighed "The Brawlers and Digidestined might be working together, but they still aren't you know, working together."

"How do the strongest bonds break?" Shun rhetorically asked "A trusted source of information has come forth with a questionable claim and because of the reputation of said digi-world prophecies it is immediately taken as fact without scrutiny. As a result, divisions and paranoia occur. It's how wars get started, families become broken and tensions are established."

"Ok, you lost me" Julie sheepishly admitted

"He means that as noble as the Digidestined can be and as they have been in the past, they are just as fallible as anyone else. They're scared of what they don't know so they take things like the prophecy at face value and everyone against it as either naive or corrupt. Just like I used to" Riku said in a quiet tone

"What changed for you?" Hikaru wondered

"I guess it is out of the blue" Riku chuckled as leaned back in the chair he sat on. "Kai and I never really got along when we were younger"

_Flashback_

"_Come on Riku, why can't I play too?" a five year old Kai asked with a frown. They were in the Digital World and had just received their crests a few hours beforehand_

"_Don't you get it?" Riku shot back "You're dark, you're evil, just like the enemies our parents faced. I can't believe I'm related to a monster like you.`` At the age of ten Riku was quite intelligent and seemed to grasp things faster than the other children of the original Digidestined did. At least until Kai came around at the age of three Kai had developed a photographic memory and a genius level IQ. Soon he began surpassing his older cousin in areas such as arts and math which caused the older brunette to dislike him a feeling that had just grown stronger within him_

"_I'm not evil" Kai glared defiantly with tears brimming in his eyes as Riku and his other friends were about to leave him out of a game of soccer._

"_Not yet" Riku smirked_

_Flashback end_

"I was pretty awful to him, for quite a selfish reason too. I never believed in him like Hikaru always did, and I despised his old partner as well. I remember the day Impmon was killed and the prophecy was delivered. I actually laughed because I thought it was all funny." Riku grimaced at the memory "I was actually the one that coined the term disgrace, which everyone else was quick to adopt as a slur against him. I felt happy after he left Japan, and then the attack at the Marakura Tokyo hotel occured. If it wasn't for Kai then, me, Elecmon, and who knows how many civilians would've died. He and Shun saved a lot of lives together that night." tears began to stream down Riku's cheeks "I treated him like garbage, I took every opportunity to belittle him, and he saved my life anyway. I was so wrong about him, he's not evil even with the excuses he has. He's a much better person than I am." Riku shook with a silent sob as he tried to wipe the tears off of his cheeks. He was shocked as Hikaru moved next to him and hugged him. "I'm sorry" Riku managed before he continued to weep with regret.

"Just focus on being better now" Hikaru advised her older cousin "that's all you can do, and that's all we need from you."

"Yeah" Shun sighed "You're already doing much better, just keep going" Marucho and Julie also voiced encouragement as the flight continued.

About an hour later the private jet violently shook, grabbing everyone off guard.

"_The turbines aren't responding, we're going to crash!" _Kato alerted over the jet's intercom

"I'll grab Joe" Shun stated "Riku, grab Kato and get off the plane."

"There's no parachutes and Elecmon doesn't evolve into a flying Digimon" Riku said

"Take this" Shun placed a Ventus Monarus Bakugan in his hands "Get Kato, Elecmon and yourself to the ground safely, I trust you"

"Thanks" Riku nodded in determination before rushing to the cockpit.

"The rest of you, use whatever Bakugan or Digimon are at your disposal and get to the ground safely." Shun commanded before rushing to where Joe and Wayvern were.

"You can't order me ar-"

"Just do it, Yolie" Hikaru snapped as she, Renamon and Julie used a Subterra Falconeer to fly out of the plane.

"Stop being so prideful, and help us all survive" Marucho said as he used an Aquos Gargonoid to get to safety.

"Ugh, whatever" Yolie groaned as Hawkmon Armor Digivolved into Halsemon and they left the plane as it crashed into a Nevadan desert.

**Sorry it's been taking so long for me to update, I'll do my best to post on a more regular basis. Hope you enjoy.**


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